I spin the alphabet wheel hoping to land the right letters the ones I can add to the others I have for a winning combination If I’m lucky I’ll score a whole verse in an unbeatable streak of right words for the pay-off prize preferred by poets the rave reviews of critics
I forgot how to write poetry like I forgot high school French, shorthand, and fractions I don’t know the date of the Magna Carta I don’t remember my old locker number Forgetting how to write poetry isn’t like forgetting where I live It’s more like forgetting my own phone number how many two’s what comes […]
Daylight Savings in the bank is a glorious free commodity ready to spend to dispel the dark deficit of winter’s poverty ~ Colleen
Mara called. I picked up the phone because my answering machine was full from the sonnets she had left on it the day before. I encourage those who call me up to speak in rhyme if they’re so inclined, and Mara is a particularly prolific poet. When she asked me how I was doing, my […]
The boasting crocus woke us for spring The dandelions are next ready for roaring! Post note: I’m still working on the conclusion to Wednesday’s entry, “My Love/Hate Relationship with Writing,” which I thought would be ready today. My new plan is to post it for Sunday/Monday.
I. The moon is like a jewel under my pillow Like the princess and the pea I can’t sleep II. I’m trying to sleep but the moon has other plans I follow its bouncing ball orbit like reading subtitles in a foreign film It says: Wake up and write this all down before you […]
Four days before this past Christmas, I went to my friend Alex’s memorial service. She died on December 17th after a three-and-a-half year battle with eye melanoma, and after living for two years longer than her doctors expected. A large hoop with ribbons dangling from it dazzled in the sunny doorway of the Glade Church, […]
The whole time I was in Cedar Key I felt like I was at the bottom of a snow globe. The birds flew up near the ceiling, and the clouds rolled across the width of it like snow falling and stacking. In the evening I sat at the edge of the bay’s shore where the […]
Still rough, but shot with light when polished and cut by an audience and set by publication. The poet can build a meandering path to insight like glimpses through the trees to a lake in sunlight. ~ From “A Poet of 20 Carats” by Alex Wind As soon as I cleaned my kitchen table from […]
I danced on the ledge of a tall building swaying but not falling down I danced like Houdini throwing confetti like Annette Funicello in Beach Blanket Bingo I danced a biblical epic a science fiction movie and a music video I danced while fishing I cast a wide net I sewed a warm red sweater […]
Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage.” ~ Catherine Douzel It was our first official Teapoet tea party. Six of us were in attendance. There were freshly baked scones still warm from the oven with lots of choices of what to spread on them; crème fraiche, maple butter, marmalade, and honey kiwi fruit. There […]
You’ve heard of a “three dog night?” In our house it’s called a “three log night.” Although it’s been cold lately, it hasn’t been as cold as winters in the past when the frigid temperatures and howling winds have caused me to sleep with a wool hat on. On a night like that this poem […]
